In this contemporary era of the 21st century, the increase of melanin in skin is a burning issue. People are disturbed because their skin is getting darker.
Every colour is beautiful in itself but over secretion of anything is harmful for our body. As we know, science and technologies are advanced nowadays and have given us solutions to most of the problems, this problem is also solved by science. It's possible to reduce melanin in the skin care routine.
What is melanin?
To understand the process of reducing melanin in skin, it's important to understand the concept of melanin in the human body.
Melanin is a complex polymer. Melanin is produced in melanocytes. It is a harmless secression as it is built from amino acids. The more melanin you produce, the more darker your skin gets.
It is present not only in humans but also in animals. Melanin is used to produce hair, eyes or skin pigmentation. It also absorbs harmful ultraviolet rays coming out from the sun which cause skin cancer. In other words it protects our skin cells from being destroyed.
Melanin is produced in melanocytes, but melanocytes cells are not present everywhere in the body. It is present in
(i) in hairs
(ii) the innermost layer of our skin
(iii) the inward area of our brain
(iv) some part of our inner ear
There are three types of melanin and these are:-
(i) Eumelanin- This melanin mainly gives us dark colours such as black and brown. People with brown or black hair and eye pupils have this kind of Eumelanin.
(ii) Pheomelanin- It secretes a pink colour which is needed for our lips mainly and nipples too.People with equal Eumelanin and pheomelanin have red hairs which is rare.
(iii) Neuromelanin- It is responsible for the colour of our neurons.
How does melanin affect skin colour?
Now this is something very interesting. Approximately, all humans produce the same number of melanocytes but still some have dark-coloured body parts. This is due to the amount of melanin produced by these melanocytes. People who produce it more, have darker skin, eyes and hairs than the people who produce it in average quantity.
Are there disorders related to melanin production?
(i) Vitiligo- This is a very weird condition which causes our skin to lose colour , resulting in white patches. It occurs when melanocytes are destroyed by our immune system. It is noticeable in people with darker skin.
(ii) Albinism- It occurs when there is less production of melanin. People with albinism have white hairs, pale skins and blue eyes.
(iii) Hearing loss- Because melanocytes are present in the inner part of the ear , it is linked with hearing loss. It happens due to less production of melanin.
Production of excess amounts of melanin is known as hyperpigmentation. It is harmless. People who produce excess melanin have patches of skin that become darker than the surrounding skin.
Also there are some more reasons due to which the melanin production goes high ?
These are caused by burns, acne, rashes and other traumas.
Types of hyperpigmentation of melanin are:-
(i) Age spots
(ii) Melasma
(iii) Post inflammatory hyperpigmentation
Some medicinal and certain health conditions can also lead to hyperpigmentation like :-
(i) Age spots- It commonly occurs on the face and hands. Brown, black or tan spots appear in the skin due to over sun exposure. It usually occurs in adults or some people with much sun exposure.
(ii) Melasma- It is caused by large patches of darkened skin. It has limited space to occur such as forehead, stomach, face. It occurs mostly in pregnant women.
(iii) Post-inflammatory - It mainly occurs after any skin trauma such as acne, burns or rashes. It can occur anywhere. It's very fatal as it happens to people who meet with an accident of burning.
How to get rid of hyperpigmentation of melanin in the skin ?
Though it is harmless, there is a solution to prevent the hyperproduction of melanin. Some of them are as follows:
(i) Topical creams- it is a type of cream which is used to prevent hyperpigmentation by lightening the skin. It contains ingredients such as Vitamin C, glycolic acid peels, crystamine cream, azelaic acid and so on. It's advisable to apply this cream continuously for at least 4-6 months for improvement.
(ii) Aloe vera- It is a natural home remedy and the most stable solution to the problem of hyperproduction of melanin. People can use aloe vera gel from the plant directly to the skin. Though it can be less effective, consistent use of aloe vera gel in the skin can lighten the production of melanin and improve the skin.
(iii) Green tea- Most people don't like to drink green tea but it is also one of the solutions to reducing hyperpigmentation of melanin in the skin. It mainly deals with the reduction of the production of melanin that happens due to post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. Although full research about this remedy is not done by the scientist, they saw little improvement in reduction of the production of melanin in the skin.
(iv) Lemon juice - people use lemon juice to reduce skin pigmentation. This is due to the presence of high Vitamin C.
Prevention of hyperpigmentation
It is not always possible to prevent hyperpigmentation or stop it from becoming more prominent , but there are some ways to reduce the risks such as :-
(i) Use sunscreen lotion because it works as a shield against the sun.
(ii) Wear some clothes which prevent sunlight or when you go out during daytime, cover your skin part with clothes.
(iii) Avoid skin-lightening products to lighten the overall complexion.
(iv) Avoid picking of the skin after an injury or when there are spots, acne or scabs.
(v) Seek professional advice from a pro advisor before using skin fairness cream to lighten dark patches.
(vi) Diets which are low in vitamins and fat diets can lead to nutritional deficiencies which can lead to pigmentation around the mouth. So, eat healthy foods which are rich in vitamins. For example, tomatoes, eggs, milk, cheese, carrots, yoghurt and lots of green vegetables.
Conclusion
Most of the time we can see that after following the above steps , hyperpigmentation can be removed within 12 months. But some of the hyperpigmentation requires intensive treatment such as the impact of dermis.
We should knRajeow that there is dark skin due to hyperpigmentation but sometimes it's due to genetics. It's a natural process and there's nothing to get ashamed of but if there's hyperpigmentation of melanin, it can be controlled by the above mentioned ways.
